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Korean War

Harold was a member of Company A, 7th Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division during the Korean War. Harold was injured on October 26, 1952. He was awarded with the Purple Heart.

Mr. Kahler’s daughter Julie McCann writes, “My dad left the bunker and went into a trench where he joined fellow Marines, (we know this because he spoke later about witnessing a friend who was positioned next to him be fatally hit) and was hit by a round. He was unconscious and suffered from amnesia for 5 hours. A metal plate was put into place on his skull during surgery and this injury continued to cause pain and fainting spells for the rest of his life, which ended 11 years later due to an injury to the same injury site.” .

We honor you, Harold Kahler.

(#Repost @National Purple Heart Hall of Honor)

Arlo served in the Air Force in Yuma during the Korean War in 1954 as a Flyer Search and Rescue. He also spent some time in France and he was well acquainted with the Base Commander there. Arlo has since taken his son, Rick, back to Yuma to show him his old stomping grounds and to show him where places were. Rick recalls this experience as “priceless.”

We honor you, Arlo Winrow.

(Submission written by: Lisa Mead, American Legion Post 112)

Martin Harris was an engineer during WWII from 1944-45. He would clear mines and such and even brought one home along with a few captured Nazi guns and a dagger. He would explode bridges and things like that. After landing on Omaha beach (116 days after D-Day which was “a fortunate occurrence in our view”, as stated in his memoir), he recalls a company Sergeant who stepped on an S-mine (which is basically what we would call a bouncing Betty today). It hit him on the knee and didn’t explode.

However my grandfather saw many horrors of war. He remembered going into a bombed out church and found two dead young soldiers: one German, one American. He said, “They were both good-looking young men, and he realized once again, how tragic war can be.” He described that as one of the most moving experiences he had seen during the war. He also remembers being bombed by an Axis plane. One bomb hit a munitions and explosives supply dump, killing at least on sentry, and another landed 2 houses down from where he and others were sleeping. He helped in the crossing of the Roer River, too. And as you can imagine, as the Germans shot back from the other side of the river, the infantry were very angry with the Germans after seeing some of their close friends killed.

In Korea, he was clearing out a stump in the road to make it wider for vehicles to pass, but when he set the charge and exploded the stump, Chinese forces across the valley started mortaring them. He yelled at everyone to hit the ground, as did he, and then passed out. He woke up in a helicopter, very cold, with the Chaplain praying over him because they thought he was on his way out. Later he found out that he had been hit in the lung by shrapnel. He asked the doctor who operated on him for it, but he refused and said they were making a collection.

After the General Army Hospital in Tokyo, he was given a Purple Heart, which my grandmother still has, along with his helmet, officers cap. I have his shirts and whistle, and bag.